Noah T.

Hey Bud,

I realized that this afternoon was one of my last free-ish ones for many weeks to come so I thought I should spend some of it updating my blog. I'd say there's a pretty decent chance that I'll be dusting cobwebs off it come Chloe's first birthday...

The amount of things that are changing in our lives is almost unfounded. I do not do well with change. I mean, honestly, people are lucky I change my clothes everyday. Anyway, your Daddy started a new job on July 1. He still does the same thing, but Skyview was sold to Help Systems, so now he works for them. The transition has been about as good and smooth as one could hope for, but with a new company comes a different set of requirements. One of those requirements is that he work a full 8 hour day. So, Daddy has to go to school part time in the fall. This will mean that we get to see him a little more and he'll have less homework, but it might take him 3 more years to finish school instead of 2. I'm not a fan of that. On the plus side, we now have dental insurance and both Mommy and Daddy have life insurance. We like that.

Last family picture outside our old house

Last family picture inside our old house

The other big change we're facing is moving. We are crossing our fingers for a moving day of 1 week from today. There is a chance that it'll have to be 2 weeks, but hopefully not. Nana is bringing pizza in a while and then she's going to help us pack some more. We'll see how many boxes we can add to our current running total of 79. She's also staying with us this week end because Papa and Auntie Kristi will be out of town. We have to finish all our packing this week end so that Daddy and I can load a U Haul on Monday night. Then, we're living with Nana and Papa from Monday or Tuesday to Thursday because we leave for camping next Thursday and are gone until the following Monday. We'll have a new house and a garage full of boxes awaiting us when we get home! I'll have to write a blog post telling all about our new house and putting up some pictures once we get all settled. We've loved this current house we're in, but we are also excited for the new one. It can be so hard to leave memories behind, but I know we'll make some great ones in our new place.

You on the morning of Preschool registration.
That smile couldn't be wiped from your face!

Your Spiderman backpack from
Auntie Kendra!

There is one more thing that will be changing in our family soon. You will be a student come fall! Wow! This morning I took you to register for 3 yo preschool. We got all your paperwork turned in and your tuition paid for the whole year, so we're pretty set to go. You would have happily stayed with your teacher and got right to work this morning if she'd have let you. Everywhere we go you tell people about your new scissors and your Spiderman backpack (the only school supplies we've purchased, and the backpack we can't even take credit for because it is from Auntie Kendra). You are SO EXCITED! You'll go from 9:00-11:00 on Tuesdays and Thursdays. A perfect amount of time for you to learn to be in the classroom, make some friends, learn to listen to adults who aren't related to you, and learn some new things. You're very ready academically, socially, and emotionally. We'll see how I feel on your first day, but right now I'm just really excited for you. Maybe I'm a weird mom?!?!?

This summer we've been doing school at home. Only about 20 minutes a day, M-F, but we've been working on some handwriting, scissor skills, lowercase letters (you know uppercase), letter sounds (you've got 16 mastered), counting, shapes, etc. You seem to enjoy it. I think you like having some one-on-one time with me while Chloe is sleeping or doing something else. You've picked everything up really well. I think our biggest goal that we're aiming to accomplish is writing your name before starting school. You can spell it, but your fine motor skills are needing some exercise. Scissor work and a few games are helping those along.

Mommy and Daddy are so proud of you and love you so much! It is so fun to see how much you love Chloe and to watch the two of you play together. I can't believe how grown up you are. There is so much to appreciate about your personality and the caring heart you have! Thank you for being such a blessing to our household!

Here are some pictures showing off all our summer fun:

Fun at the water park in MI with
Uncle Nathan

Water park fun!

Visiting the Saginaw library with
Auntie Kendra

You got to take some books home!

Playing with Uncle Nathan
at the Children's Museum in MI

More Children's Museum fun

Cousin time with Paigey :)

You & Papa building a bonfire for the teens
at Auntie Kendra's

Playing in the Saginaw River

Visiting the Kangaroos at the
Saginaw Zoo

Playing at the park in Saginaw

Mommy & Noah getting ready to
fly home to see Daddy!

Swimming at a teen event with
Uncle Nathan

Visiting a fudge kitchen in Frakenmooth! It was
DELICIOUS!

Reading stories in Emmett with Great Grandma

Fishing with Papa in Saginaw

Fish on!

Swimming at Nana and Papa's

Enjoying the Saginaw River with Auntie Kristi

More fishing with Papa :)

You were quite the little fisherman :)